Canadian Diplomats Asked To Leave Due To 'Continuous Interference' In Domestic Issues: Jaishankar

India-Canada Row: Speaking on New Delhi's recent expulsion of more than 40 Canadian diplomats, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said the move was born out of "concerns about continuous interference" in India's domestic issues by Canadian personnel. Jaishankar also defended India's grounds for seeking the downsizing of Canadian diplomatic presence in the country.

"There's this whole issue of parity that the size of how many diplomats there are of one country versus how many diplomats there are of the other country. Parity is very much provided for by the Vienna Convention, which is the relevant international rule on this," he stated on Sunday.

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"But in our case, we invoked parity because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel. We haven't made much of that public. My sense is over a period of time more stuff will come out and people will understand why we had the kind of discomfort with many of them which we did," the seasoned diplomat added.

(Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Pic Credits: ANI)

Earlier, on Friday, Trudeau attacked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, hours after his foreign minister Melanie Joly accused New Delhi of violating international laws. "The Indian government is making it unbelievably difficult for life as usual to continue for millions of people in India and in Canada. And they're doing it by contravening a very basic principle of diplomacy." Trudeau had said during a press conference.

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"It's something that has me very concerned for the wellbeing and happiness of millions of Canadians who trace their origins to the Indian subcontinent," he had further said. The expulsion came amidst the diplomatic row triggered by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's unsubstantiated allegations against the Indian government regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia. 

(With inputs from ANI)